Shots Fired! Nevada GOP Goes to DEFCON 3

With “nuclear option” talk in the air — whereby five or more Republicans would collaborate with the 17 Democrats in the Nevada State Assembly to elect a Speaker for the 2015 legislative session other than the Speaker-designate elected by the Republican Assembly Caucus — a special meeting of the Executive Board of the Nevada Republican Party was convened today to address the threat.
In short, the party’s leaders declared “open season” on any Republican member of the Assembly who is foolish enough to push the nuclear
button and side with Democrats against their own elected caucus leaders.
“This morning the Executive Board of the Nevada Republican Party passed a resolution calling for members of the Republican Assembly Caucus to unite or face a recall election for any efforts to usurp the duly-elected leadership of the Nevada Assembly,” declared the party elders in a press release following the meeting.
According to the release, party leaders have learned that some GOP members of the Assembly are “intending to work with Assembly Democrats to unseat the incoming Republican Speaker Designate in exchange for committee assignments and bartering of legislative bills.”
Thirty pieces of silver will be a bonus.
The resolution, as adopted, didn’t name names. But I’m reliably told that a number of members wanted to specifically single out former Minority Leader Pat “The Appeaser” Hickey, widely suspected of being the ringleader of the “Collaborator Caucus.”
The resolution warns Assembly Republicans “who are working against their own caucus leadership to stop these destructive actions or face consequences, up to and including a recall election, due to any efforts to usurp the duly elected leadership of the Nevada Assembly.”
The resolution reads, in part…
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Nevada Republican Party asserts that any Nevada Republican Assembly Caucus member who works with Democrats to undermine the elected leadership of their own caucus is acting counter to the intent of Nevada voters, and demands that any caucus members engaged in these actions immediately cease these dishonorable actions or they shall be censured by the Nevada Republican Party; and RESOLVED That the Nevada Republican Party will call upon the NRAC to immediately remove any Republican Assembly member who fails to support their leadership from the NRAC; and RESOLVED That the Nevada Republican Party will support any efforts, up to and including recall, to hold any NRAC member who fails to support their leadership accountable.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is Defcon 3.
I understand a majority of county chairmen were part of the meeting, as well, and also voted in support of the resolution — with the exception of Washoe County, the home turf of two of the suspected prime “nuclear option” collaborators, Hickey and his thin-skinned
sidekick, Randy “Kirner Tax” Kirner.
It’s unclear if Washoe GOP Chair Sam Kumar voted against the resolution or simply wasn’t on the call.
In any event, Hickey is truly playing with fire here. And if he continues, he ain’t the only one who’s gonna get burned.
Officially-sanctioned recall efforts by the Nevada Republican Party — likely to be fully funded by conservative donors who are tired of this
crap by the moderate crybabies who didn’t get their way — are far more likely to be successful than not, especially considering the relatively tiny number of signatures needed to qualify for a special election.
Oh, and the fact that those targeted for recall (a) will be in session and unable to campaign to save their bacon in their districts, and (b) will be unable to raise any money to stave off the recall effort thanks to the fundraising “blackout period” they’ll be under.
But even if not successful, the recall effort alone will be enough to entice serious, credible and viable GOP primary challengers for the next election — and the campaign mailers will write themselves! It will cost the collaborators a fortune to defend their seats.
To tell you the truth, part of me hopes Hickey & Company are actually stupid enough to go through with the “nuclear option.” I’d love the chance to get rid of them BEFORE the end of the legislative session when Gov. Brian Sandoval’s tax hike votes come up rather than wait until June 2016.
So…
Go ahead, Pat. Make my day.
* * * * *Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a non-profit public policy grassroots advocacy organization. Chuck Muth may be reached at cmuth@lasvegastribune.com.